Its a hot summer in NYC and offices all over will be filled with the devout trying not to be in a bad mood for a month seeing their co-workers slurping Pepsi and eating sandwiches like they are taunting them.

The ones with the super human endurance are the ones that run the halal chicken stands. Delicious chicken, lots of ice cold soda and water nearby and the only consolation is that at least they are making a buck.

So have a good one. I hope hunger doesn't torment you too much and I hope you do not have to get a saline IV to prevent from dehydrating. And I really hope that the women at the Flatbush Islamic Center do not fall into the basement due to lack of blood sugar and unwieldy clothing.

There's an Arabic bodega/carryout up the street from me. They love Ramadan, they say it brings them peace of mind, and I love it when it's Ramadan because they pull out all of the stops in their prepared food selection. They've got shrouded ladies sitting around preparing all kinds of savories and sweets to be sold at sundown, and those ladies can cook. They told me they make more money during Ramadan than any other month of the year.

I read somewhere once that in Kuwait people gain weight during Ramadan. It's like Christmas dinner every night after sundown, but better.

There was a large group of Afghanis in town for the weekend having a picnic in one of the parks. None of the women were wearing burkas, but they were in head scarves and well covered in 90F+ heat, some of the men were wearing traditional clothes as well. I had a short chat with one of the young men in the group. It was weird - one part of the park was full of hang gliders and para-sailors and then over yonder was a group of people praying to Allah before the picnic. Last hurrah before Ramadan :-)

Joan of Arc went to battle with nothingbut the voices in her headand a well-sharpened sword ~ Charlotte

Kurt wrote:When I worked in an office full of muslims it was a pain. They were cranky as hell.

I don't think tempting the pious is a very nice thing so I would make a point of not eating or drinking in front of them.

Did you also make the beguiling female harlots in your office wear burkas?

I would have gone out of my way to eat pulled pork sandwiches. Slowly.

Pulled pork is like describing Picasso's blue period to Hellen Keller. They just would not know what they are missing.

But, as far as the Burkas go. Here is what happened.

Muslims in workplace are laid back and pretty easy going until "strict muslim" starts working there.

Then suddenly all the laid back Muslims are now bobbing up and down in prayer a couple times a day and growing beards. Strict Muslim will publically chastise them for ducking out for a smoke, hanging with non muslims and thinking the Hindu (Indian) women are attractive and they will all fall in line.

Strange as hell...because my laid back Christian friends would just ignore an arrival of a pious Christian and certainly would not allow themselves to be brow beaten by him back closer to "The Lord".

The Jews I worked with were like this to an extent but the line ended at Conservative. No one messed or could mess with the secular or reform Jews but the Conservatives, Orthadox and hassidic Jews would all chastise one another for either being "too Jewish" or "Not Jewish Enough". When one guy that we hired showed up to his interview without his Yamulka but showed up to work wearing it every day the Conservadox let him have it for being too chicken to not wear a Yamulka to a job interview. He in turn gave them hell when he discovered a photograph of a girl and her husband brazenly wearing a swimsuit that did not cover the elbows and knees in Florida

What day this week did Ramadan start? I worked on Monday at my little job at the beauty college, no students there on Mondays so it's nice & quiet. A girl came in to speak to one of the financial aid officers and she was all hijabed out, then I realized she was one of the registered students there and I see her all the time, but not dressed in the hijab and veil, she dresses normally usually. I was thinking how weird it would be to go get a haircut from a veiled woman, or some color or highlights. I wouldn't want to have my hair cut by a veiled woman. So I thought maybe she wasn't training to be a hairdresser but an esthetician, the people who do massages and facials and brow-waxing and such instead of hair. Trying to find out, I asked her what she most enjoyed about the school and what kind of services did she look forward to providing when she graduated. She said hair, that she likes hair coloring the best. Makes sense, there's a lot of money to be made in hair coloring, much more so than cutting.

I wanted to ask her why she was veiled, I don't see why I couldn't, but then again it's a school and I could get in trouble for such a question. I thought maybe Ramadan had started but I noticed she was helping herself to our delicious Aveda herbal tea. Anyway, I'm bemused by hijab wearing women in hair-dressing school.

Yesterday I ran into Home Depot to return some light bulbs. As it went there was an older couple right in front of me in the refund line. They were dressed "Islamic", in Pakistani clothing or possibly they were Muslims from India. Of course they had some kind of weird convoluted transaction, the poor cashier. The Muslim lady kept going on about having Home Depot apply the military discount. I'm thinking WTF. I was thinking it would have really sucked if the cashier were say, an underemployed underpaid through no fault of his own Iraq or Afghanistan War vet and also am wondering if places like Home Depot are also giving the 10% military discount to war vets. They oughta.

Anyway, as far as I am concerned the Islamic garb is off the hook. It offends my eyes.

Oh man, the greatest thing about being married to an atheist is that I never have to think about that shit. Christmas stress? Very little, just had to buy some crap for my family, but no tree, no decorations, no church, no bullshit except he likes that "Elf" movie and it kept coming on. Ramadan stress? None, no 4pm YOU SMELL LIKE CIGARETTES ALL I WANT IS A CIGARETTE WHY ARE YOU SMOKING CIGARETTES IN FRONT OF ME YOU DON'T REALLY LOVE ME temper tantrums, no grouchy mealtimes, no coordinating for a giant 10,000 calorie meal with 60 of your closest friends every night, etc.

Atheists, man. I'd never even dated one before and now I'm married to one. He can be as annoying as fuck sometimes, can't we all. But I didn't even know it was Ramadan, and that's just the way I like it. Happy Grouch Month, believers! That's lovely that it brings some of you peace and calm, but that sure wasn't my experience. And remember, if you want a snack or cigarette without guilt, it's pretty fucking easy to do. Just say, "Wow, maybe the Earth really *is* more than 7000 years old and basing your entire month on a belief system based on some guy hearing voices in his head telling him to kill his own son is fucking dumb, I think I'll just enjoy life and not worry about some 1400-year-old ritual invented by another dude who thought dogs were a sin and married a nine year old. Because, science!"

"4 cylinder Camaro=communism" El Presidente

"You can smoke salmon but it's not quite the same as smoking heroin." nanuq

I shall be eternally grateful to have achieved a personal state of nirvana that does not require me (to even be tempted) to wear a ridiculously impractical and hindering wardrobe; forgo delicious and tasty food items, curtail my personal liberty and freedom to go where I want, when I want, using the conveyance of my choice, in the company of who I choose; require me to spend precious moments of an actual, finite life studying mythology while hoping for an uncertain fairy tale afterlife and denied an opportunity to learn factual things about how the 'real' world works (aka science); to engage in inane rituals infused with guilt, based on systems that are designed to siphon personal resources of time, money and life energy into the pockets of self-perptuating institutions and smarmy individuals....and more importantly to not have to put such silly questions to a council so that I can get this as a response: “and eat and drink until the white thread (light) of dawn appears to you distinct from the black thread (darkness of night), then complete your Sawm (fast) till the nightfall...They can set the time for their fast and determine the beginning and end of Ramadaan and the times of starting and breaking the fast each day by the dawn and sunset each day in the closest country in which night can be distinguished from day. The total period must add up to twenty-four hours, because of the hadeeth of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) about the Dajjaal mentioned above, in which he told his companions how to determine the times of the five daily prayers. There is no difference in this regard between fasting and prayer."

Joan of Arc went to battle with nothingbut the voices in her headand a well-sharpened sword ~ Charlotte

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